It was a day like most on the bustling streets of Canterlot City. The air was thick with chatter of ponies out for errands or a day of fun and a feeling of cheer hung almost tangibly in the atmosphere. The pegasus ponies had graced the city with a day full of sunshine and smooth, cool breezes, making it the perfect day to go out shopping or carousing. The night as well was expected to be pleasant and mild, much to the thrill of the city’s inhabitants. Young and old alike swarmed the green stone streets, heading in and out of white and grey buildings, trimmed with gold and pale blue and lavender. Some sat out on the patios of posh, modern looking cafes, enjoying a good conversation and some light treat, others stopped by windows polished to an almost mirrorlike tone to admire and consider the goods sitting within.
 
A tall, snowy unicorn drew a good amount of attention to himself from passerby as he strutted along at a relaxed canter, his lionlike tail held aloft and barely curled up at the tip. He was flanked on one side by an earthy brown stallion with half lidded eyes and long, swaying mane and tail the color of new grass shoots. On the other side a short unicorn mare with a mane the shades of a rolling wave trotted casually, her tail as held up, though curved much more flirtaciously over her rump. The white stallion seemed in good spirits, as were the others, who tossed many coy, thinly veiled comments at the center unicorn. Each coquettish comment seemed to perk up the stallion’s ego more and more until he was standing so proud and straight he looked fit to burst.
 
True, this was a common occurrence for Fever Dream, infamous playcolt and child of Duke Blueblood and Duchess Lulamoon, who considered him the apple of Canterlot’s eye, but it never ceased to fuel his vanity. He much enjoyed strolls like this with potential suitors, allowing them to fawn over him and to fawn over them in turn. Oft he would end his evening in the embrace of a mare or stallion, sometimes more than one and never had he regretted it. After all he believed every pony deserved and was entitled to love in one form or another, and his just so happened to be physical. Yet he had never truly considered the ties of actual love outside the physical spectrum. Perhaps it was his age, perhaps his life of being treated as a spoiled prince, who knew? It wasn’t until this sunny day in Canterlot that he had felt any feelings stir him to equate with ‘love’.
 
Yet as he tossed his head up, flipping his mane of gold and pale, cloudy blue, he stopped dead in his tracks, hoof upraised at a most lovely sight. His mouth dropped in a perplexed, almost stunned expression, brows rising and lavender eyes widening. Not far off, he spied a short mare with a mane as golden as his and a dark grey, near black coat, spattered and splotched with white. Even a great white heart across her chest, he noted, before she turned to face away and call out to somepony. “C’mon, Pippy, the city ain’t gonna explore itself!” She cried out in a joyful tone, light with a pleasant country twang.
 
Beside him, Fever Dream’s companions noticed the sudden shift in mood, their eyes flickering to follow the path of his own before flipping back to him quickly. “Earth to Dreamy, you still in there?” Questioned the natural toned earth pony to his right, nudging him playfully in the shoulder.
 
“I, uh, yes,” Fever began, his cheeks dusted with a light rose color, both from the lovely mare not far away and the embarrassment of being caught ‘spacing out’. “Why don’t you two entertain each other for a little bit, hm?” He quickly tried to regain control of the conversation. “You two’ve been getting along quite well, a little alone time won’t hurt anypony,” He said, looking between them and giving them his most convincing wink. Both of his suitors grinned and blushed ever so slightly.
 
The sea colored pony on his other side rolled her eyes a bit, but nodded in agreement. “If you say so, Dreamy, but come find us later, okay?” She near purred, turning on a hoof and nodding for the other pony to follow.
 
Glancing back to see that the two were indeed on their way, Fever Dream centered his attention back on the short mare, who thankfully was still there, tapping a hoof and waiting for whomever she had called to catch up to her. It was strange, normally he’d approach anyone he was interested in even with his typical entourage, but he felt like he wanted to really focus his attention on this mare for some reason.
 

 
“C’mon, sugarcube, we ain’t got all day!” Blackjack hurried once more. Pippin was sure taking her sweet time, yet grinning the whole way over as far as Blackjack could see, like she was TRYING to draw out her patience.
 
She huffed and tapped a hoof once more, blowing the tip of her wavy mane out of his face. In her pouting she didn’t noticed the tall white stallion walking up behind her. Not at least until a smooth, deep baritone startled her out of her mood. She jumped, whirling around and finding herself almost nose-to-nose with a stallion others might’ve thought tall. But after regularly being around her Uncle Mac and Papa Shoes, nopony really seemed all that tall in comparison. “What brings such a lovely mare such as yourself to Canterlot? Can’t say I’ve seen you around before,” Fever Dream inquired in his silkiest and most inviting tone.
 
“I, uh, um… That is w-we,” Blackjack stuttered back in response, brain momentarily fried and cheeks flushed bright red. She certainly wasn’t used to strange handsome stallions getting right up in her face.
 
She took a large step back to try and put herself at a more comfortable a distance and Fever respectfully didn’t close the distance as much as he wanted to. He had to admit it was cute seeing her all flustered. Blackjack inhaled deeply and gulped down the sudden lump in her throat. “I’m, um, visiting, with my family. Wanted to show my cousin Pippin around,” She explained, forcing a friendly smile onto her muzzle.
 
Fever shifted his attention momentarily over to the even smaller mare with a yoke around her neck who just than had come alongside Blackjack, her face bright and sunny as the day itself. “Speak o’ the devil,” Blackjack said in an almost scolding tone, turning to her cousin.
 
Fever pursed his lips discreetly for a moment, thinking. He wasn’t interested in the gray-green mare who stood alongside the paint mare, he knew that much. But he also realized it’d be rude to ask her to join him and leave her cousin behind. “Well, you’ve run into the right stallion then,” He boasted with a charming smile, his tail held higher now in his confidence. “I could give you quite a tour around the city, if you’d like,” He continued, puffing out his chest a bit. “Ah! How could I forget my manners!” He feigned suddenly. He tipped forward in a gentlemanly bow, before straightening and introducing himself. “I’m Fever Dream,” He gave, looking at Blackjack expectantly.
 
Blackjack in turned quirked a brow at him. She wasn’t quite sure she liked all this syrupy charm pouring off the white stallion. Maybe all the younger uppercrust stallions in Canterlot were just like that? She really didn’t know - she didn’t have much experience with them. “I’m Blackjack, an’ this is my cousin Pippin,” She offered, tilting her head towards her cousin, who merely smiled in return. Blackjack continued. “It’s nice of ya to offer, Mister Dream, but Pippy and I’ll be just fine. Kind of a girl’s day out,” She explained. “But it was nice meetin’ ya,” She added quickly. “We’ve gotta get going now, take care alright?” She said almost hurriedly. The sooner it was just her and Pippin again the better.
 
Before Fever Dream could really acknowledge that his charm had been completed ignored and shut down, Blackjack and Pippin had already begun to trot off. As the realization dawned on him that he had been, in some fashion, rejected, he stood stock still on the street, his tail drooping slowly and his face twisted in a baffled expression. He’d never encountered a pony - mare or stallion - that he’d set his sights too that hadn’t even been a little interested in him, so this was certainly a new feeling. Yet still, he wasn’t going to give up just that easily.